skin picking and the feeling of something under the skin

I thought I would start this discussion this morning because I've just had a coaching session with a lady who feels like she has a blackness within, which she would be able to dig out with a pin. I'm not entirely sure how she envisioned this but I see it in my mind's eye as almost like a black ghost which would be long and ongoing when drawn out. Very topical since I am posting this in October. I also feel that it is imagery which represents depression. What do you think?

Both of my sisters were really bad skin pickers and in my later years I seem to have more of a problem although only with scabs etc. caused by injuries.

Comments

Wow, I have been looking for a community like this for so long and I am hopeful that I can offer some support to others. My main BFRB is cheek chewing, but I used to cut myself as a teenager and I remember being obsessed with really dark blood, thinking it was some sort of dirt within me.

Please tell the lady you are treating that I know what she is experiencing. Any tips you can offer us here will be a help to so many.

Thank you so much for this topic. It seems that this is one of those issues that no one wants/likes to talk about, and I suppose I can understand why. I myself do not skin pick, but my wife does, constantly picking at the skin on her thumbs with her fingernails until they begin to bleed. And then she keep going, even when I ask her repeatedly to stop.

She says that it doesn't hurt, and that she does not even realize she is doing it, but it makes my skin crawl. I can't look at her mangled fingers, and when I don't look, I can hear the picking going on as she is sitting next to me.

I have tried to be understanding, and will continue to be, because God knows I have my personality and mental issues as well, but it has really become an issue in our marriage that is driving us both mad. I hope I can find some insight here from others, both with helping her and helping me to deal with it the best way I can.

Hey. I don't have any experience with skin picking, but I have been a cutter since my teens. Whenever I get stressed or upset, it seems like the only thing that makes me feel better quickly is to cut, usually on my thighs or forearms. I managed to go many years without it, then last year it started again. I have heard that all of these types of behaviors are related, cutting, picking, hair pulling, etc. Has anyone heard of techniques to stop one of these behaviors working on other types of what I call self-mutilation?

Thank you for the information. I checked out the e-book you recommended and there was some very useful information in there. I'm going to find the right time to suggest to my wife that she give it a read -- at the very least it may give her something to think about.

I had quite a bad day today, both in connection with my health and my picking. I feel angry at myself and my skin is so raw. Watched a television program that talked about dust mites getting into the skin and have not stopped picking since. It is all such a fight.